Latinoamérica is a single by Calle 13 featuring Susana Baca, Totó la Momposina and Maria Rita from the 2010 studio album Entren Los Que Quieran.
About the song
Latinoamérica is a song by Puerto Rican band Calle 13 which contains a beautiful blend of latin music styles such as salsa, cumbia, and tango.
The music video was filmed on March 23, 2011 (during 29 days) in Perú and was directed by Jorge Carmona and Milovan Radovic. In addition to the new footage shot throughout Latin America, it incorporates previously unused footage shot by the brothers from their pivotal trip captured in Sin Mapa. The video opens to a striking landscape of Peruvian mountains, as the silhouettes of Residente and Visitante are seen crossing the frame.
The stepbrothers make their way up dirt roads, to a radio station in the Peruvian mountains, where they are presented to a Quechua- speaking DJ.
As the video continues, additional symbolism becomes apparent. The start of the song’s instrumental music contains percussion reminiscent of the sound of heartbeats. The audio image of heartbeats is then synchronized to a large visual image of a beating heart. In the remainder of “Latinoamérica”‘s music video there is a wide variety of interesting symbols that play off the song’s lyrics. Nevertheless, for the most part these symbols ultimately tie back to the themes of unity and knowledge.
Song background and Calle 13
“Latinoamérica” is a song by Puerto Rican alternative hip hop band Calle 13, released September 27, 2011, as the fifth single from their fourth studio album, Entren Los Que Quieran (2010). It was written and produced by Rafael Arcaute and Calle 13, and features additional vocals from other Latinoamerican recording artists; Peruvian Susana Baca, Colombian Totó la Momposina and Brazilian Maria Rita. The song won Record of the Year and Song of the Year in the Latin Grammy Awards of 2011. The song is important in that it touches on many underlying historical, social, and political themes present throughout Latin America.
Calle 13 is well known for their creation of music with strong themes and agendas, in particular music focused on social consciousness. The band has also released a documentary, Sin Mapa. Sin Mapa follows the evolution of Calle 13 as its two main members, stepbrothers Residente (René Pérez Joglar) and Visitante (Eduardo José Cabra Martínez), travel across Latin America. Sin Mapa presents many of the same issues highlighted in “Latinoamérica”. “Latinoamérica”‘s reflection on historical, social, and political themes acts as a criticism of Western force and influence within Latin America, while at the same time asserting the collective strength of the Latin American oppressed. In addressing the shared history of Latin America, the band exposes the faults that are still a factor in present day Latin America.
